Celebrity Photos

Insplisity

Hi guys,

do you think it would be OK to publish an app with celebrity photos? I would not use any names in app title, the icon would be a silhouette, but I would mention a few names in apps description.

Thanks.

Insplisity

Hm, this is what I found on Google: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/2985771

Use the app description to give users more information about your app,
and only your app. Make sure your app description isn’t stuffed with
irrelevant keywords such as names of popular celebrities or other
developers’ product names. Also avoid listing out all the detailed items
from your app content, or all other apps you’ve published.

So I'm not supposed to name any celebrities even if my app is about celebrities? It's true that on iTunes most apps, which are celebrity apps, don't mention any of them in the description. So I guess publishing a celebrity picture app is not a problem as long as you don't mention any celebrity names.

What do you think? Thanks.

Insplisity

Hey guys,

I'm really not sure about this. I've read that AdMob doesn't allow ads on copyrighted images unless you have permissions. I won't be able to get permission from everyone, but then again, I also think there is a small chance, that the original copyright holder will find the image and file a complaint. After all, even Apple's and Amazon's app stores are full of these kind of apps - paid and free.

Anyone care to share their opinion or experience? Thanks.

tamworthheat

I have two Apps that are celebrity orientated.

1 app about "One Direction" and 1 app about "Justin Bieber".

1st of all, you have to include in your description the fact that it's an Unofficial App.

2nd of all you cannot call it "Justin Bieber" or "One Direction" - I have called mine "1DFans" and "JBFans" -

This is all ok at the moment.

3rd of all, you cannot rip photo's from the web and use them, period.

I use Photo's of celebrities but i buy the images royalty free (its cheap enough).

Some images can be used if you credit the owner but you can't just use someones images and just credit them - you have to have permission from the owner to do this.

Dont bother trying to get permission from the owner, just use royalty free images that can bought from the web.

There are plenty of websites that sell images that can be used, but even then, you cannot alter the images, you have to use them as they are and you have to use them in the context in which they were taken, in other words you cannot use these images to promote your app, but they can be included in an editorial piece about the celebrity.

Hope this helps!  Just don't do anything you're not supposed to because if you get caught - Google ends your account and you cannot do anything about it!

Yes you can name the celebrities because they are people in the public domain - It just comes down to - "Am I using content that someone else has created?  If yes, get permission or stop using it!

Insplisity

@tamworthheat: Thanks for clearing this up for me. I've scrapped the project, but it's good to know all this, if I ever decide to build something like this again. I'll definitely need a good and relatively cheap source of images in future.

What is your favorite source of images? I find Dreamstime.com and Gettyimages.com good, because they have affordable images.

About the names of celebrities - thanks, I wasn't sure of that. Maybe a little off topic, but Amazon has provided a real good guidance, if we want to use their product names in app title (I think, if done in this way, it should be good for any other product - I was also told this, when inquiring on Quora):

Using an Amazon Name in the Title of Your App

If you refer to Amazon or any Amazon product or service
(including “Kindle” or “Kindle Fire”) in the title of your app, you
must:

• Refer to Amazon or the Amazon product or service only in a way that describes the app’s
  compatibility or purpose, using words like “for” or “to.” Example: “Tips and Tricks for Kindle Fire”
• Not include any Amazon logo, icon, or image in the icons for your app
• Not imply any sponsorship or endorsement by Amazon or otherwise mischaracterize your relationship with Amazon
• Include the following statement in the product description for your app: “This app was not created or endorsed by Amazon.”

Thanks again for taking your time to respond.

tamworthheat

Yep! Dreamstime is my preferred source, Getty also is good.

There are literally hundreds out there.  If you take a photo of a celebrity yourself, you own it and can use it for whatever (forgot to mention that but perhaps we dont have our own pics of celebs.)

For generic photos, illustrations FreeDigitalPhotos.Net is also good, you can pay or use for free with a credit to the owner.

For all my icons i use IconFinder (ensuring i dont use the paid for" ones for free!)

The way i think of it is like this - There is a proper way of doing everything, just do it properly.

With regards to AdMob etc. I created an image myself for my advert - it is difficult to get that professional look but that's all you can do.

I have to say, (see my other discussion "Which best marketplace for my apps) and you will see the best way to advertise (for me anyway) isnt admob - it's OPERA

Insplisity

Thanks for sharing both links - I can't believe I wasn't aware of IconFinder.

Opera does also have it's own ad network, like Facebook and Google? Or do you mean their App Store?

Insplisity

OK, I found the thread, sorry. A lot of nice info there. Thanks!

tamworthheat

The Opera App Store for advertising your own App - It is really good.

Insplisity

So the Opera App Store enables me to advertise only the apps I have in their store, presumably? I don't understand why, but my apps had 0 downloads there, while the same apps have between 800 and 1000 DL per day on GP. Mybe I'll have another look at it.